Syracuse Basketball: 2019-20 season overview of the Orange
Key Players of the Season
As the only Syracuse player to earn All-ACC team honors while leading all conference scorers with his 19.0 PPG, Elijah Hughes put the Orange on his back this season. With his best game coming against Georgia Tech where he dropped 33 points en route to a 97-63 win during an early December matchup, he established himself as his team’s number one scoring option very quickly. Finishing out as ACC’s second-best three-point shooter while also wielding an ability to drive to the basket as well, few opposing defenses showed any ability to solve the Elijah Hughes puzzle this season.
Besides Hughes, Joseph Girard ascended to the starting rotation earlier than most had expected. Getting a taste for the spotlight, Girard never looked back upon doing so, even dropping 24 points against Seattle University while proving his ability to help plug up the team’s brief offensive woes during the season’s earliest days. Making an impact defensively as well, Girard ranked amongst ACC’s top ten in steal totals, clocking in with 1.5 SPG.
Averaging 3.5 APG and 3.0 RPG alongside his dependable scoring output each night, declaring Girard the team’s second most important piece this season comes as no stretch. The freshmen’s shot selection might need some work, as his shooting percentages inside and outside the arc fail to amaze by any means, but nonetheless, the Orange certainly got themselves a good one for next year at the very least.
Nearly averaging 10 more points than the year before, Buddy Boeheim took the largest leap amongst his teammates, truly coming into his own as a piece vital to Syracuse’s success. Lethal from deep, no ACC player knocked down more three-pointers than Boeheim this season, helping him bring his scoring average up to 15.3 PPG. Boeheim’s offseason work paid off defensively as well, as the sophomore earned himself the fourth-highest defensive rating amongst ACC players.
Buddy Boeheim has made 46-of-103 shots from deep over the last 10 games. That’s a sizzling 45 percent from 3.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 18, 2020
Once more serving as a solid glue piece for the Orange, Marek Dolezaj deserves recognition as well, contributing a modest 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.